


The betrayal at the Ermengarde Mansion

by lorddoofenshmertz



Category: The Letter (Visual Novel)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 17:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12063552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorddoofenshmertz/pseuds/lorddoofenshmertz
Summary: A scene focusing on how Eduard Godfrey was deceived and betrayed by his own bride-to-be.





	The betrayal at the Ermengarde Mansion

I was so determined. So determined to stick to my word that she would pay for what she did.

My cousin, and my betrothed had turned out to be nothing more than a vile, manipulative whore. A disgusting excuse of a human being who cheated on me, and proceeded to torture the very maid who discovered her.

She did not deserve to carry the legacy of her parents.

She did not deserve to be loved by the townspeople.

But it is beyond my hands to bring her to justice as far as they are concerned. But I can certainly show her the consequences when it comes to me.

I am leaving her. Leaving her, her rotten estate, and never looking back. Charlotte will not survive the blow this will bring to her reputation. She will have no further reason to keep torturing Takako. I am going to end it all, here and now.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

Try as I might, however, I can't help but turn back to her as she keeps weeping incessantly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Eduard!" she wails.

I slowly walk back to her, my expression still stern. I may be willing to accept her words, and her apology, but only if she proves them to me.

"I'm so sorry. I'll...I'll make things right, my love!" she says, grabbing hold of my hand. "From this night till the day you die, I will keep my virtue for you. I will liberate the maid...liberate Takako. As long as you live, I won't lay a hand on her."

"Do you swear it?" I say.

"Yes, yes my love! Please, please just stay with me, okay! I have so much to do, and I can only do it with you!" Charlotte pleads.

Slowly, my expression softens. "Okay." I say in a low voice. "Okay, Charlotte. I am willing to stay, if you can repent for what you've done. One final chance."

"Thank you." she sputters. "Thank you so much, my love. That's exactly what I needed to hear."

I smile at her words, as we slowly walk over to our bedchambers. This much is enough for today. Tomorrow, her repentance will begin. Tomorrow, we can begin to heal.

I wake up the next day, to see Charlotte getting dressed.

"Oh, are you awake, my love?" she says with a smile, and kisses me. "I have some work to do today. You know how it is, being the only child of the Ermengardes. Social responsibilities and all that."

"Is that all you're willing to tell me?" I say, with my eyebrows raised.

She responds by lowering her eyes, as if to struggle with saying something difficult. Then she finally says, "It is more than that, actually. I have done terrible...terrible things to Takako. I became my own antithesis, abusing the very woman I so publicly rescued from slavery. I need to beg for forgiveness from our Father. I need to confess my sins, my love." she begins shaking.

"That is alright. I would be happy if you did that." I say, holding her hands in mine. "Should I come with?"

"No, I'd rather you didn't." Charlotte says. "If people see us together, there, they will whisper. There will be talk. Ugly talk about what's happening between us. Please, just stay here my love, I'd rather-"

"Okay, okay." I reply. Perhaps some measure of faith is needed for this to work. I cannot redeem Charlotte by hovering over her at all times. I need to keep my faith in her, let her fulfill her promises in her own time. So I don't make a fuss when she leaves.

Once she has gone, however, a chill slowly begins to build up inside the mansion. I try to chalk it up to the weather at first, but I can't help but wonder if there's more to it. The manservants in the house seem remarkably aloof, not wanting to converse with me beyond a few words. Of course, it's not like this is the first time this has happened, but am I mistaken for sensing something other than simple indifference in their eyes. Am I wrong for sensing a coldness, a malice in them? Something just waiting to unleash itself?

No, it is just my own mistrust from the past few days getting to me. What Charlotte did to me, to her, was so reprehensible. It nearly destroyed me, realizing that I fell for someone capable of such vile deeds. I suppose giving Charlotte another chance is as much a favor to me as it is for her. I do not know how I would've been able to cope with being so thoroughly fooled otherwise.

What Charlotte and I had cannot be a lie in its entirety. It had to have been real in some way. Otherwise, what I have I been fighting for all this time? What have I been living for?

Regardless of my attempts to quell my unease, however, it only continues to grow, until I decide to retire to my own chambers early. Honestly, I feel a little unwell. It must be my fretting over what is taking Charlotte so long. She has a lot to answer for today.

As I await her impatiently however, I hear her scream "Darling, I'm home!" just as the sun sets.

"In here." I say, leaning out of the door so that my voice reaches her.

"Oh!" she says, her sights focusing on me. "That's excellent my love! I'll be right there!"

In seconds, she has made it to our room, with my having retreated a bit further inside. I relax myself on the bed as she approaches me.

"Thank you so much for what you did for me, my love." she says with a smile. "Now, I can do everything that I've wanted to do."

Those words intensify the chill I've been feeling. I look up at her face, into her eyes, a dread seeping into me.

Is the chill, is it coming from...?

That train of thought quickly dissipates once she snuggles up to me and holds me in her arms.

"What's wrong, my love? You seem a little tense." she says.

She's warm. She's soft. But that voice of hers stirs up a certain restlessness.

"Charlotte, I..."

"Don't worry my love. I told you I would keep my virtue for you as long as you live, didn't I? As long as you're here with me, of course I'll care for you." she says, her tone as cheerful as it often was.

"Charlotte..." I begin, but the rest of the words can't leave my mouth.

"I would do anything for my dear husband. Yes, my spoiled little husband. My spoiled little pampered Eduard who'd be nothing without me."

Her hold immediately tightens around me. And I feel something cold against my back. It hurts.

"Char..."

"Shh." she says, softly. "Eduard, Eduard, Eduard. Trying to destroy everything my parents and I built because some filthy slave tried to dishonor me. Do you have any idea how much you hurt me that day, when you chose her word over mine?" her voice grows colder and colder, the warmth in her tone replaced by venom. And malice.

"After everything I did for this town, everything I did for the people, you sided with the harlot who tried to take it all away from me. You are such a fickle, hateful man Eduard. Tell me, was I that horrible a wife? That wretched a woman?"

It is a knife. She's pressing a knife to my back.

"Charlotte, what are you doing...?" I say, my voice dry and hoarse. I can't believe it. I can't believe she'd do this to me. "Don't you love me? Why me, Char...?

"Hush." she whispers. "I did say I wouldn't lay a hand on that whore as long as you lived, didn't I? It's just so sad, Eduard, that you won't be living for very long."

"Don't...please..." I don't believe this. I'm begging, _begging_ for my life here!

"It's too late, my love. You should have heeded my warning. You should never have taken a single step out of my lands." she tightens her grip on me as I try to struggle. I can't move, why can't I move?!

"You won't be able to escape me, my love. The reason is simple. Unlike the simpering, spineless nitwit you are, I want it all!"

"You're mad, Charlotte! You can't just-"

My words are cut off as I feel something sinking into my back. And a wetness that starts to spread. "Char...lotte..."

"Hehehe! How does it feel? How does it feel to realize what happens to fools who defy me! Understand your place, my love! You belong here, forever under my heel like the harlot you chose over me! HAHAHAHA!"

She laughs as she twists the knife further, and I scream in pain.

"And one last thing before we move on. I did not go to beg for forgiveness, my love. I went to remove the seed you had planted within me."

No. No, no, no she wouldn't, she couldn't...

"Yes, my love. Nothing is left to tie me to the useless wretch you turned out to be. Hehehe!"

I'm bleeding. I'm hurting, but I'm still not dead. And then I hear footsteps coming in, and realize why.

"In any case, your punishment has not ended. I am taking you to your beloved now. You and that foul witch can both suffer together. And she will take the fall for everything! She will pay the ultimate price for having robbed you from me, and there is nothing you can do about it." Charlotte says, as she twists the knife further and lets me fall.

I lose consciousness.

All I remember next are knives. Knives thrust into me without mercy, without a break, by the men who surround her. As I fade away, I hear the voice of another woman. Crying. Pleading.


End file.
